Create a premium gastro experience with the world’s oldest flavours

Unique Australian products are coming to the UK. Here’s how you can give your customers a taste of premium Australian delicacies.

The new Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) will enter into force on 31 May, bringing a range of Australia's local delicacies and flavours to UK plates.

UK diners will have the opportunity to experience unique products native to Australia.

The A-UKFTA will provide UK restaurants and retailers with easier access to Glacier 51 Patagonian Toothfish, Western Rock Lobster, spirits infused with native Australian botanicals, creamy macadamia nuts and more.

Get a taste of Australia’s unique offering and how you can infuse your menu with premium, exclusive flavours with these exciting suppliers already starting to enter the UK.

All-natural bushfoods

Australia’s Saltbush Kitchen produces spice rubs and salts using all-natural ingredients that are unique to Australia such as lemon myrtle – a spice that infuses your dish with an intense lemon flavour and aroma without the acidity.

Other popular flavours are native Tasmanian herbs Pepperberry - which tastes like black pepper, musk, and fruit with a bit of heat – and Kunzea, which tastes like rosemary, eucalyptus and lemon.

You can combine Saltbush Kitchen’s spices with oil for a marinade, use it as a dry rub or sprinkle as a garnish on meat, seafood, or vegetables.

These versatile bush spices can also be used in sweet cakes, cookies, ice cream and a whole range of desserts.

Native and nutritious honey

Australia’s floral diversity creates unique honey varieties that are popular with UK consumers. Authentic Australian Manuka honey produced by companies such as Capilano Honey is one of nature’s sweetest superfoods and is produced by bees that have foraged on the flowers of Leptospermum trees, where over 80 species are native to Australia.

From the remote forests of Western Australia, Forest Fresh create another uniquely Australian honey variety – the ‘healing honey’ Jarrah, which has a smooth, caramel-like flavour and is packed with beneficial properties, such as more antioxidants compared to other honey varieties.

From honey glazed aubergine to honey baked triple brie cheese, Capilano Honeyand Forest Fresh offer countless recipes of how to infuse native honey into your menu.

Buttery macadamia nuts

Not many people know that the macadamia nut is the only Australian native food crop that has ever been developed and traded internationally as a commercial food product. There is growing demand for macadamias from UK consumers seeking healthier options and plant-based sources of protein.

Sustainable Queensland supplier Marquis Macadamias have landed in the UK. While their raw or roasted nuts can be added to mueslis, cereals, sauces and dressings, Marquis are finding that their macadamia pastes, butters and oils are increasingly popular in soups, sauces, dairy products and as a condiment.

Macadamia milk is quickly growing in demand with health conscious and Free From consumers as a creamier alternative nut milk.

Healthy seaweed botanticals

Have you ever heard of seaweed pasta? What about seaweed muesli?

Australian marine biologist Dr Pia Winberg is passionate about the health benefits of seaweed, dedicating 20 years of research into how humans can benefit from one of the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet, and founded Phycohealth to add seaweed into everyday favourites like crisps, granola and roasted macadamias.

Australian drinks company Seadrift Distillery are inspired by the mindful drinking movement and have created an award-winning, non-alcoholic spirit distilled in traditional copper pot stills which offers an infusion of seaweed and other fresh coastal and sea botanicals.

Australian companies are global sustainability leaders

Today’s consumers care about where their products are sourced from, and Australian suppliers pride themselves on sustainability, traceability and innovation.

Some Australian suppliers are world leading for their sustainability practices. Austral Fisheries became the world’s first carbon neutral fishery in 2016, Wakefield Wines who were the among the first wine producers globally to acquire carbon neutral certification in 2010 and Marquis Macadamias’s Bundaberg farm went carbon positive in an industry – their farm now sequesters more carbon than it produces.

Create a memorable experience for your diners with exclusive, premium Australian delicacies and flavours. At Austrade, we look forward to connecting UK restaurants and retailers to our unique Australian products in 2023.

Are you interested in sourcing these products from Australia? Contact london@austrade.gov.au

Writer: Karin van Wesep, Head of Marketing & Kelsey Hill, Marketing Strategist, Austrade Europe, UK & Israel